Celebrating Art: Your legacy unites and inspires us every day
Andy Cohen, FAIA
Global Co-Chair of Gensler. Co-Author of "Design for a Radically Changing World."
We come to you today with heavy hearts to share with you the passing of Art Gensler. Art was an industry icon and entrepreneur with the vision that we not only design spaces, but that we do so with the understanding of how they have the power to shape the way we experience the world and who we become within it.
In 1965, with his wife Drue and James Follett, Art founded the firm that he led until the Board introduced the Co-CEO leadership structure in 2005. He is credited with making interior design a new area of architectural practice, raising it to a new level of professionalism. Art led the firm to break new ground as early proponents of interior spaces that reflect and reinforce a company’s brand and unique culture. His “inside-out” approach to architecture, examining the user journey in a building, laid the seeds for the human experience framework our firm still embraces to this day.
In his later years with the firm, Art’s leadership helped Gensler blossom into a full-service practice. He helped craft the blueprint for the firm's interdisciplinary approach seen through the creation of practice areas. These decisions helped the firm earn clients' trust and paved the way for Gensler's expansion abroad.
Art’s lasting legacy is a global brand that only he could have created. He mentored his colleagues to put clients first, fostering a dynamic that can be seen in the firm’s decades-long relationships with clients. He championed the adaptive, proactive, and client-focused approach that treated service as a privilege and clients as partners. His philosophy of working alongside our clients to provide solutions for their most pressing challenges was part of this trademark style for yielding the most value for clients. His spirit and people-focused values will always be the pillars of Gensler.
Art passed away peacefully today, May 10, at his home in Mill Valley, California. He was 85 years old.
Art was predeceased by his wife of nearly 60 years, Drucilla (Drue) Cortell Gensler. He is survived by his four sons and their families: David and his children (Aaron, Thisbe, Dunia, and Pales) with Alisoun; Robert and his wife Gillian; Douglas and his children (Cortie, Cailin, and Mamie) with Kinzie; and Kenneth and his children (Morgan, Jake, and Sam) with Jennifer and grandchild (and Art’s great-grandchild) Charlotte.
With respect and admiration,
Diane and Andy, Co-CEOs, Gensler
PAMA NY - Peter Austin Matthews Architect
1 年Art was one of my Dad's friends, back when San Francisco was emerging as a hotbed of design [my father's team FCB (Foote Cone and Belding), also considered a standout among corporate players, had advertising accounts like TWA, Dole - for example, they branded MasterCard]. Like Art, some other SF design pioneers included Walter Landor, Joseph Esherick and Lawrence/ Larry Halprin, for whom my dad's team branded The Sea Ranch. It was out of this hotbed of cross-discipline creativity that Art emerged, having laid the groundwork to pursue a much broader vision to grow out of corporate interiors to Gensler's far broader knowledge-based, practice of architecture. Am sorry to have never met him, but appreciate how powerful and persuasive Art was to have such impact, building such a practice. Sending my sentiments to Art Genlser's corporate family.
Independent Architecture & Planning Professional
3 年Marv Taff FAIA Art was a larger than life architect and human being. He was a wizard at bringing the best people to his firm and brought out the best in them. To be around Art was to experience a dynamic that is indescribable. No wonder he created the most successful architectural firm the world has seen. His firm will continue without but only because he created a lasting organism of an architectural practice. What a man! Marv
Associate Director - Interior Design / Practice Leader
3 年My sincerest condolences to the Gensler family. Art was a great storyteller; he was fantastic at communicating his passion for design, he was an inspiration figure and will remain a great icon in the field of design and architecture.?
Attorney/Principal at Law Office of Steven R. Lovett
3 年My condolences to you, his family and the firm.